Montmeló.- “We can’t lose Barcelona.” The double Spanish world champion Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) defended this Thursday to maintain a career in the Catalonia circuit, in Montmeló, from 2026, the year in which Madrid will organize the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1.
“I do not think we will lose Barcelona. It is my opinion and my desire. It is fine to have new circuits and that the F1 goes to new countries, but at the same time we must keep traditional circuits, in which the history of the F1 has been written. I think that the F1 and Barcelona are very close,” said the veteran driver of 43 years at a press conference.
The Montmeló Circuit, about twenty kilometers from the Catalan capital, appears in the F1 calendar since 1991 and will organize on Sunday the Grand Prix of Spain for the 35th consecutive time.
It is a route highly valued by the pilots and the teams, which often organize rehearsals in it.
“Decades ago we make rehearsals here. The teams choose Barcelona for the trials because it is the circuit of the F1 par excellence. Improvements have been made in recent years to adapt it to the current standards of the F1,” said the Asturian pilot.
The contract of the Catalonia circuit with the F1 ends in 2026, year that coincides with the appearance of the ‘Madring’, the urban circuit of Madrid, in the calendar.
The new Grand Prix in the Spanish capital could be the departure of Montmeló, since Liberty Media, which holds the rights of Formula 1, seems more oriented to new more lucrative markets such as the United States or Asia.
Roland Garros “can’t seem like a circus”
The Spanish Jaume Munar (57º in the ATP classification) showed his dissatisfaction with the attitude of the public during his party against the Frenchman Arthur Fils (14th) in the second round of Roland Garros, this Thursday on the Suzanne-LENGLEN track, qualifying the atmosphere as “a circus”.
“Regarding the public, I will be very clear, I do not have to bite my tongue, for me that encourage the other, to shrink, I am already tanned and I am trained in that. In South America they are also very hard,” Munar began at the press conference after his defeat.
“What seems to me a lack of absolute respect, and here a lot happens, is not stopping to sing, to interrupt. In the end what happens is that they do not let the game advance and look like a ‘show’. Very beautiful for the viewer, but I also believe that they should remember that we are here to do our job,” he continued arguing the Mallorcan tennis player.
